World News - Lag in Forming Iraqi Government Could Delay the Eventual Drawdown of U.S. Forces

Iraqi efforts to form a government are only now beginning in earnest nearly two months after key elections, and the hard bargaining could take weeks if not months to produce a new leadership. That could delay the eventual drawdown of U.S. forces. American diplomats are putting intense pressure on the Iraqis to agree quickly on a government to include Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs, the community that forms the backbone of the insurgency. Until a new government is in place, it is unlikely the United States and its coalition partners can move to the next step pulling out some of the 160,000-strong multinational force. The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, has said he may recommend cutbacks this spring.... http://abcnews.go.com

Tony Blair told President George Bush that he was "solidly" behind US plans to invade Iraq before he sought advice about the invasion's legality and despite the absence of a second UN resolution, according to a new account of the build-up to the war published today. A memo of a two-hour meeting between the two leaders at the White House on January 31 2003 - nearly two months before the invasion - reveals that Mr Bush made it clear the US intended to invade whether or not there was a second resolution and even if UN inspectors found no evidence of a banned Iraqi weapons programme. "The diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning", the president told Mr Blair. The prime minister is said to have raised no objection. He is quoted as saying he was "solidly with the president and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam". The disclosures come in a new edition of Lawless World, by Phillipe Sands, a QC and professor of international law ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1700879,00.html

Jurors in the trial of ex-Enron chiefs Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay on Thursday heard an infamous tape of Skilling calling an investor an "A**hole" as the man confronted him over the company's murky earnings releases. The insult came in April of 2001, just eight months before Enron went bankrupt as, prosecutors say, Skilling was becoming increasingly desperate to maintain an illusion that the failing company was in good financial shape. Skilling is heard on the tape being grilled on a conference call by Richard Grubman, a hedge fund investor, over the company's failure to release a balance sheet with its earnings reports. "You're the only financial institution that can't produce a balance sheet or cash flow statement with their earnings," Grubman is heard to say on the tape. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1573435

Many of the measures promised by Tony Blair in the wake of the London bombings last summer have been dropped or shelved despite his dramatic warning to terrorists that "the rules of the game are changing". Six months after the Prime Minister's pledge, an analysis by The Independent shows that only five of the 12 proposals he unveiled are likely to be implemented in full. Yesterday opposition parties criticised the slow progress in bringing forward the "urgent" measures promised by Mr Blair at a Downing Street press conference last August before he left for his summer break.The delays will raise further questions about Mr Blair's ability to force through his agenda before he stands down. The doubts intensified after the Government's surprise double defeat on plans to outlaw religious hatred on Tuesday....http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article342663.ece

Google's reputation as the internet phenomenon that can do no wrong took a new and unprecedentedly severe battering yesterday as investors, stunned by a quarterly earnings report falling far short of expectations, wiped more than 12 per cent off the value of the search engine company's stock. It was the second time in a week that Google shares - the hottest, most talked about company stock in the world - were plunged unexpectedly into a frigid bath. And although the latest disappointment was more about market expectations than profitability, which remains extremely robust, the shine has come off a company regarded not only as a business powerhouse but a thrilling key promising to unlock the secrets of the digital future. ...http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article342636.ece

Let the countdown begin. Congress finally sent legislation Wednesday to President Bush that sets Feb. 17, 2009, as the end of analog broadcasting in the United States. After that, television sets must have digital tuners to receive an over-the-air signal. As part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the transition to digital television (DTV) is expected to raise billions when the Federal Communications Commission auctions off the analog spectrum currently occupied broadcasters. Wireless broadband providers are expected to be the primary bidders for the spectrum. A portion of the spectrum will also be reserved for first responders to improve interoperability....http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3582466